The quiet genius of Mrs. Puff

Mrs. Puff has one of the saddest jobs in Bikini Bottom: she teaches a student who cannot fail, because he does not understand what failing means.

The running gag is that SpongeBob destroys her boat every lesson. The quieter joke is that she keeps coming back. She is not a martyr; she is a professional who needs the paycheck and has convinced herself that this time will be different.

The only adult with something to lose

She is the only adult in the main cast with a real profession and a real fear. Mr. Krabs has a restaurant, but his stakes are comic. Mrs. Puff’s stakes are professional: her license, her school, her name on the wall. When SpongeBob crashes again, the joke is not just property damage; it is her livelihood.

That is why her deadpan works. She does not scream at SpongeBob; she narrates her own doom in a flat voice, like a teacher filling out an incident report. The show gives her some of its driest lines, and she delivers them without asking for sympathy.

“Doing Time” is the best example

After one accident too many, she ends up in prison, and the joke is that it is the best vacation she has ever had. No students, no boats, no SpongeBob. The only place she can relax is a place where he cannot follow.

That is a surprisingly sharp idea for a cartoon about a fry cook. It is also a little sad, which is the show’s specialty: it lets a joke be funny first and melancholy second, without announcing the turn.

Mrs. Puff is the straight man, but she is also the show’s best argument that patience is a form of comedy. Every time she gets behind the wheel, we know what will happen. The fun is watching her know it too.